Xinhua Lin, PhD, completed his doctoral work at the Washington University with Thomas. F. Deuel, where he studied the transcriptional regulation of platelet-derived growth factor A-chain gene. He then went to the Dr. Norbert Perrimon lab at Harvard Medical School, where he initiated his work on the role of heparan sulfate proteoglycan in cell-cell signaling in drosophila.
Dr. Lin has identified and characterized two mutations, sugarless and sulfateless, which occur in the genes that encode essential enzymes for the biosynthesis of heparin/heparin sulfate glycosaminoglycan (HSPG). Analyses of these mutants led to the demonstration that HSPGs play critical roles in the signaling activities of several growth factors including Wg, Hh and FGF. Dr. Lin further demonstrated that glypican members of HSPG play key roles in Wg signaling and the formation of Wg morphogen gradient. He became an assistant professor in April, 2000, at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. His lab is interested in elucidating the molecular mechanisms of cell-cell signaling, focusing on the role of HSPG in signaling and the morphogen gradient formation of the Wg and Hh proteins.